Thirty minutes later, at the Male Dormitory of University No. 3 in City A.
After unlocking the dorm room door with his key, Lu Ren retracted the key, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.
He found Xu Wenxing, who had somehow already gotten out of bed, wearing headphones and playing Cyber Sniper.
“Brother Ren, you’re back!” Xu Wenxing glanced at Lu Ren upon hearing his voice.
“Why did it take you so long to buy breakfast? Don’t tell me you thought I wasn’t up yet, so you went to the Library to study for half an hour and secretly become a grind dog behind my back?”
“What do you mean? Do I really look like that kind of person to you?” Lu Ren placed Xu Wenxing’s breakfast on his desk. “Remember to transfer the money—include yesterday’s dinner cost as well.”
“Okay, Brother Ren. I’ll transfer it as soon as I finish this round… What the! Where did this sniper come from?”
Just as Xu Wenxing got distracted, his screen suddenly went black.
Checking the Death Replay, it turned out he was shot by someone from the other hillside.
Lu Ren squinted slightly as he watched Xu Wenxing play for a while from behind, feeling his blood pressure rising.
He almost wanted to snatch the mouse and play for him.
“Why aren’t you pushing forward as the attacker? Instead, you’re hiding at the back sniping. You’re not a vehicle specialist.”
“Push forward? Stop shooting from the back. Switch to Medic and pull the PRO Bro up front—that’s how you win.”
“With full troop strength plus the Giant Beast, not pushing point? Are you even human? Sniping kills on the other side mean nothing—there are three Medics in their point healing each other. You kill one, they revive instantly. That shot’s wasted.”
Seeing Xu Wenxing ignore his advice and keep acting as a scout, and watching their forces steadily drop, Lu Ren shook his head, already sentencing this round to defeat.
Sure enough, ten minutes after Lu Ren opened his computer, Xu Wenxing took off his headphones, cursing under his breath.
“Damn, how could I lose this? I thought this map would finally let me win once. Ah, what a pity. Such a good start—should’ve listened to you, Brother Ren, and switched to Medic to pull people up.”
“Lost? I could tell your team was doomed the moment you didn’t push the point. And sure enough, you lost,” Lu Ren said.
“Yeah, lost. But sniping was pretty fun, so not too bad.”
Stretching his body, Xu Wenxing seemed unfazed by the recent loss.
“Buzz buzz buzz, buzz buzz buzz, buzz buzz buzz…”
Suddenly, Xu Wenxing’s phone on the desk started vibrating nonstop, as if messages were flooding in.
“Stop talking about how fun sniping is. Your phone’s ringing. Probably someone calling you—go check it out,” Lu Ren reminded.
“Brother Ren, don’t be so anxious. It’s early in the morning. Probably just a telemarketer,” Xu Wenxing said lazily as he picked up his phone.
But after swiping to unlock and seeing the notification at the top, he froze on the spot.
“What’s wrong?” Lu Ren asked curiously.
“Ahem, Brother Ren, I have the latest insider news on the Magic Girls of City A. The source is absolutely reliable and genuine. Want to hear it?” Xu Wenxing cleared his throat and put on a mysterious smile, grinning at Lu Ren.
“Latest news? Spill it.”
Lu Ren was slightly taken aback, a vague guess forming in his mind.
“Ahem, in the Eastern New Commercial District of City A, Blazing Flame and Sapphire fought side by side! This is huge news, Brother Ren!”
Xu Wenxing excitedly told Lu Ren, then eagerly placed his phone in front of him so he could see a photo of a red and a blue Magic Girl standing before the corpse of a giant beast.
“Oh.”
Lu Ren just glanced briefly at the photo and gave a perfunctory response, remaining calm.
After all, he was directly involved. How could he react strongly to such expected news?
He could only sigh at how out-of-the-loop these so-called journalists were.
“Hey, Brother Ren. Why aren’t you excited at all? This is Blazing Flame’s first collaboration with another Magic Girl! A historic moment, you know?”
Xu Wenxing was puzzled by Lu Ren’s indifference.
This was firsthand news about Blazing Flame, whom he cared deeply about. Why no reaction at all?
Could it be…
He had an even earlier source?!
“It’s just their first collaboration. Why call it a historic moment?” Lu Ren sighed helplessly. “Two Magic Girls teaming up to fight Monsters is pretty normal. Isn’t that how it always is in Anime?”
“What do you know? Anime is Anime, reality is reality! Blazing Flame used to handle things alone. But this time, she fought alongside another Magic Girl. That means she’s opened up emotionally and can face the new reality!”
Xu Wenxing got more and more excited as he spoke. In the end, he even clenched both fists tightly and made a dramatic, ominous gesture.
Lu Ren, who had been listening quietly all along, just wanted to open his phone and send Xu Wenxing a sweating soybean emoji.
What does “opening up emotionally” and “facing new reality” even mean?
This is completely disconnected from the truth—a purely subjective fantasy with no objectivity.
Oh well. He’s like this. What else can I say?
“You’re talking nonsense,” Lu Ren said mercilessly.
“They just appeared together in the same frame, and you can come up with so many theories. Should I praise your imagination and gather people around you to congratulate you?”
“Brother Ren, can’t you be a little nicer? Don’t burst my bubble.” Xu Wenxing immediately snapped back to reality.
“Besides, I said those things because that’s how it’s portrayed in Anime. Can’t we be a little romantic?”
“What kind of Anime do you watch that has this kind of plot? Which Magic Girl series? What’s the name?” Lu Ren asked curiously.
“Uh, aren’t mainstream Magic Girl shows like that? They’re based on real Magic Girls. There are tons of hot-blooded friendship stories like this.”
“Hot-blooded friendship?”
Lu Ren furrowed his brow, looking puzzled at Xu Wenxing.
“Yeah. A Magic Girl just starting out gains the Transformation Ability, fights Monsters, faces difficulties, makes friends, faces more difficulties, gets an Enhanced Form, and repeats this cycle four or five times. That’s how a Magic Girl Anime is made. It’s the most classic trope in the market.”
“Though they encounter all kinds of problems they can’t solve along the way, they never give up. That’s the charm of these Fantasy Heroes, Brother Ren.”
Xu Wenxing recited his neatly summarized insights on Magic Girl Anime like a prized possession.
After finishing, he looked up at the ceiling and gave a silly grin, seemingly recalling classic scenes from some Anime.
Lu Ren, watching Xu Wenxing’s somewhat dazed smile, felt a chill down his spine and instinctively shrank back.
Surrender. There’s no way I can keep up chatting with you Magic Girl fanatics!